Biographical Note
Leo Feist, a former corset salesman who became one of the largest publishers of popular music in the world, was born in Mount Vernon, New York on Jan. 3, 1869. When he couldn't find publishers for his own compositions, he set up his own firm and eventually concentrated on peddling the songs of others. His first hit as a publisher was a cake-walk tune "Smokey Mokes," in 1895. An astute businessman and skilled marketer, his sheet music bore the slogan "You can't go wrong with a Feist song." He had branches in England, France, Germany and Australia, which helped to increase the popularity of American songs abroad. Among the most successful works in the Feist catalog were the compositions of Enrico Caruso, George M. Cohan's "Over There" and several tunes by President McKinley's niece Mabel McKinley. Feist took over Balmer & Weber in 1907, and the Morse Music Co. in 1915. In 1929, together with Carl Fischer, Inc. and NBC, his firm formed the Radio Music Company which sought to capitalize on the popularity of music on the radio. He married Bessie Meyer in June 24, 1904, and they had three sons, Mason, Milton, and Leonard. Leonard became a music publisher, copyright expert, and advocate for the music publishing industry. Leo Feist died in Mount Vernon, New York, on June 21, 1930.